The historically unprecedented criminal prosecution of former President Donald Trump continues Monday, with the 45th president scheduled to meet with New York City probation officers virtually.
Trump is scheduled to undergo a pre-sentencing probation interview from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida alongside one of his lawyers, Todd Blanche.
Most defendants in New York meet with probation officers by themselves, but Judge Juan Merchan said in a letter on Friday that he would permit Blanche’s presence.
The meeting is to allow probation officers to prepare a report informing the judge on sentencing factors like the defendant’s personal history, criminal record and recommendations for sentencing, as well as employment status and family obligations.
It also allows Trump and his lawyer the chance to say why they think the 45th president deserve a lighter sentence.
Trump was convicted of 34 felonies late last month over company business records related to hush money payments he made to quiet potentially embarrassing stories about him during the 2016 presidential campaign.
This included a $130,000 payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels, who claimed to have had a sexual encounter with Trump. Trump has regularly denied the affair. He was convicted of mislabeling the payment as legal fees not related to his presidential campaign.
He claimed the payment was made under the advice of his former lawyer, convicted felon Michael Cohen, and has repeatedly said New York City prosecutors are engaged in election interference.
Trump, the obvious Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nominee, says he is innocent of all crimes and has called the legal prosecutions against him a “witch hunt.”
“The president’s Democratic party allies continue to ramp up their ongoing Witch-Hunts, further abusing and misusing the power of their offices to interfere in the presidential election,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said. “President Trump and his legal team are already taking necessary steps to challenge and defeat the lawless Manhattan DA case.”
Sentencing is scheduled for July 11. The judge in the case, Judge Merchan, has wide discretion to hit Trump with several punishments, from probation and community service to potentially putting the former president in jail for four years.
Trump has said he is appealing his conviction and issued a warning this week that, “Those appellate courts have to step up and straighten things out, or we’re not going to have a country any longer.”